Later when we were in bed together with me curled up against his chest, my mind wandered.

“Erik?” I called out softly, hoping that he hadn’t fallen asleep yet. The sound of him breathing sounded so peaceful.

“Yes? What is it?”

“I was wondering…” My thoughts trailed off. I was too nervous to choke out the words. “Nothing, forget it.” I hugged my arms around his chest and rested my face against his heart.

“Tell me.” He persisted.

“Do you think that maybe…you could help me with something?”

“That depends on what it is.”

“Maybe…you know since you have experience and all…you could help me get my revenge against someone.” I held my breath and waited.

He waited a long time to respond, and I almost thought he wouldn’t respond at all…

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me to get revenge against someone, I’d be the richest man in the west. But I was a rich man—not only did people ask me to help them get revenge, I was paid handsomely to exact revenge for them. So, my initial reaction to Alexis’s question was to explode into laughter. I knew she was an airline flight attendant, which meant she didn’t have access to the kind of substantial cash flow that I would require in order to pull off a hit on someone.

I knew she was broke, based on her background check, but she had yet to know what I had pried into her personal life and checked up on her history. I’d known about her connections to the Italian mafia before she ever started telling me the stories about her parents. She didn’t want to talk about it. I understood that more than anyone else and I’d give her the time she needed. Had I met her years ago when her parents were living, things might have been different. I could have saved her from her biggest plight. But maybe not. Since Alexis’s dad had strong connections to the Italian mafia, he would have been uneasy about my ties to Russian kingpins.

When I noticed that her face fell with disappointment at my laughter and long silence, I quickly toned down my demeanor.

I cleared my throat. “Um…sorry. I didn’t mean to um…” I said and scratched the bridge of my nose.

“What is it?” She sounded both hurt and weary.

I parted from her only so I could study her but still held her at arms-length while we laid on the bed side by side. "Who exactly do you want revenge on?"

Of course, I already knew the answer to this. Honestly, I couldn’t blame her, but that was just it. With her parents taken so soon, she was so naïve about how the world worked.

Alexis glanced at me with skepticism. Her cheeks blushed with embarrassment. “I wasn’t entirely truthful with you the other day…” she trailed off quietly.

“No?”

Alexis shook her head regretfully. “I mean…I was here on a trip I’d won from work. I really did leave my belt bag somewhere and I really had been trying to find it when I stumbled upon your property. It seemed like a nice shelter to wait out the storm, but then I saw all the guns and it brought back bad memories.”

“Okay…” I paused and allowed her to continue.

She took a deep breath. “I saw the man who shot my parents. When the mob attacked our place that night, they told me to hide in the basement of the restaurant. I was down there calling 911. They said they’d be there soon. My mom was already bleeding out. My father was shot in the leg. I heard their screams. They could have lived, but the mobster that ordered the shooting in the first place walked up to my parents and shot them both in the head just minutes before the ambulance pulled up.”

“I’m sorry.” I pulled her head to my chest.

“They didn’t deserve to die just because they owed money.”

"No, they didn't." I kissed the top of her head. My heart was breaking into a million pieces. I was so sorry this had happened to her and that she still relived those gruesome moments.

“I was on my own for a while and the cops kept telling me about witness protection and all that. I’d have to cut off ties with everything and they’d help me, but they didn’t help me when I needed it the most. Something could have been done to help my parents. I told them what the guy looked like and everything I knew, but nothing was done. It was like they were afraid to move forward with the case. I declined protection and decided to go it on my own. I left town. I got a job with the airlines and saw it as my opportunity to stay on the move. I try not to stay in any city for more than a year. I know the same mobsters aren’t after me, but I just feel safer this way.”

“Yes, of course,” I told her.

“I had doubts about you earlier. I’ll admit that, but you’re not like those mobsters, are you?” she asked.

I sighed. “I kill bad men, Alexis. I don’t take on contracts to kill innocents. I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’m an angel. What I did was wrong, but it was the only life I knew.”

“So you kill men like the mobster that murdered my parents. Will you help me?”

I inhaled sharply and glanced out at the window into the dark. I’d have to go dark again. She didn't understand. I hadn't made a hit in over a year. After I didn't respond for a few moments, she called out my name. It was like a question, and her voice sounded like a wind chime blowing gently in a summer breeze.

“Erik?” My name was a bargaining plea on her tongue.

“I don’t know if I can help you. The pain won’t go away with the kill,” I told her with sorrow.

Her expression crumbled into harsh disappointment. “I think it will. It’s one less thing I have to worry about. I’m sure he’s seen my face. They know I’m still alive, but I’m not a threat to them. Why would they be afraid of little old me if they had dirty cops backing them?”

Alexis wasn’t as naïve as I thought. She’d had years to think this through. She was smart to decline an offer of ‘protection’ from a dirty cop, probably in exchange for her keeping quiet. She was right to leave the city and go into hiding.

“I’m retired, Alexis. You’re asking me to reactivate my killer mindset.”

She frowned. “I understand. How much would it cost? Would the money motivate you?”

I took a deep breath to prepare her. “Upwards of 100 thousand dollars,” I confessed. “Money is no motivator to me at this point. It was one of the small reasons why I retired so early. I’ve got enough money on deck to last me until my death and then some.”

“I have money saved, but not that much. I can work overtime at the airline. I don’t mind working two jobs either. I can pay you over time in deposits,” she said, eagerly.

She didn’t realize that she was plotting to put herself in debt, but I wasn’t in the business of making negotiations. I didn't do loans or IOUs. Normally, the client would wire the funds to me in advance. After I completed the job, I’d call them from a burner phone and tell them it was done. Most of the times, they trusted my word, but other newer clients wanted proof that I provided happily.

“You really want this done, don’t you?”

She nodded. “I wouldn’t want you to do it for free. I know your skills are valuable, so I’m willing to do what I have to get the money. I know some girls who can make thousands of dollars a night when they’re not on a plane. I’m sure they’ll tell me how.”

I felt a rawness in the pit of my stomach as her angst poured out of her soul and somehow attached itself to me. I observed her for a few seconds. I saw the struggle in her eyes. I felt the pain in her heart. I wanted to help her.

“I have an idea,” I blurted. Suddenly, I saw a compromise that I would be willing to negotiate on. “You do have something to give me.”

“I do?”

“Yes. You know how much I want to fuck you.”

She gasped, desire swirling in her eyes. “I know…”

“Your virginity and your body. That would be my price.”

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean, exactly?"

I cradled her warm, slender hand in mine. My heart was racing at this wild idea of popping her sweet cherry. The prospective idea of being able to fuck her over and over again and take her virginity was proving itself to be even more appealing than a briefcase or duffle bag filled to the brim with crisp one-hundred-dollar bills.

“You can give me your body,” I told her.

“Instead of paying you the actual money?”

“That’s right.” I nodded, and I knew there must have been a twinkle in my eye. “If you allow me to fuck you and take your virginity, I will agree to do the contract kill for you. You will just owe me with sex, with no monetary involvement.”

Alexis stared at me for a minute as if she were weighing the pros and cons and trying to find an eternal balance to conclude with.

"Okay," she stated affirmatively with a stone-serious expression on her face.

“Okay?” I smiled giddily and felt my pulse race as blood rushed to my throbbing cock.

“Yes. This kill means that much to me. I need closure.”

“Then closure you shall have,” I told her and planted a kiss on her hand. She would be mine forever. Her body would belong to me.